De Luca V, Likhodi O, Van Tol H H M, Kennedy J L, Wong A H C
Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2006 Sep;114(3):211-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2006.00785.x.
The alpha7-nicotinic receptor subunit gene (CHRNA7) is located at chromosome 15q13-14, a region previously linked with schizophrenia. Genetic association and mRNA expression studies also implicate CHRNA7 in schizophrenia. The CHRNA7 gene has a partial duplication that constitutes the alpha7-like nicotinic receptor gene (CHRFAM7A). We hypothesized that major psychoses could affect the expression of both CHRNA7 and CHRFAM7A.
CHRNA7 and CHRFAM7A mRNA levels were measured in postmortem prefrontal cortex (donated by the Stanley Foundation) from subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and unaffected controls (n = 35 each).
The mRNA levels of alpha7 and alpha7-like genes have a positive correlation overall (r = 0.25; P = 0.009), however, there is no significant difference in the expression of CHRNA7 among the three diagnostic groups.
This correlation is driven by the bipolar group (r = 0.43; P = 0.009), and is absent in schizophrenia and unaffected controls, suggesting an alteration in the CHRNA7:CHRFAM7A ratio in bipolar disorder.
α7-烟碱型受体亚基基因（CHRNA7）位于15号染色体q13 - 14区域，该区域先前与精神分裂症有关。基因关联和mRNA表达研究也表明CHRNA7与精神分裂症有关。CHRNA7基因存在部分重复，构成了α7样烟碱型受体基因（CHRFAM7A）。我们推测主要精神疾病可能会影响CHRNA7和CHRFAM7A的表达。
在精神分裂症、双相情感障碍患者及未受影响的对照者（每组n = 35）死后的前额叶皮质（由斯坦利基金会捐赠）中测量CHRNA7和CHRFAM7A的mRNA水平。
α7和α7样基因的mRNA水平总体呈正相关（r = 0.25；P = 0.009），然而，三个诊断组中CHRNA7的表达无显著差异。
这种相关性由双相情感障碍组驱动（r = 0.43；P = 0.009），在精神分裂症患者及未受影响的对照者中不存在，提示双相情感障碍中CHRNA7:CHRFAM7A比例发生改变。
